Wake Up, My Dear
by animetearslove
Summary: "Wake up. This isn't your life." Levi keeps hearing these words constantly. What do they mean? He's already awake. And this is his life. Reality has been in his grasp all along... or has it? LevixPetra centered/ AU
1. Prologue: The Void

**A/N: Hello there! It's been awhile since I've made a fanfic... But I've jumped onto the SnK bandwagon, and it's more or less consumed my life... yup. Just a warning, I love me some heichou, and I think it clearly shows. Anyway, hope you enjoy! **

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"Wake up, Levi..."

The young man shot upright in bed, breathing unsteadily. The room spun around him as he gathered his bearings. He was still in his house; of course he was, why wouldn't he be? The problem was, he felt like he had been plucked right out of another reality and placed into this one. The feeling it gave him was very distorting. One reality was hard enough, dammit. These dreams gave him such a headache. Especially that woman's voice...

Levi got up, throwing off the sheets. Glancing at the clock, he noted it was almost time for his alarm to ring anyway. Might as well go and start the daily clean.

His footsteps echoed around his silent, empty house as he walked through, passing by all the barren rooms. He was a neat man, one who kept all his belongings, few as they were, in three rooms.

The master bathroom was where he kept all of his cleaning supplies, and, like the rest of his house, was enormous and so very lonely. He passed by the mirror and stopped a minute to assess his reflection. Levi knew he was attractive; hell, his co-workers and defintely his students acknowledged that. Vanity never went to his brain, though. He didn't have time for dating and flirting, anything like that. People often wondered why he, a handsome man in his early 30's, was so cold and detached from the world. Levi never had a good enough answer, it seemed.

Levi finally looked away from the mirror, averting his eyes from his own blank face. He gathered what he needed before walking back into the hall.

The place was huge, but he always started at one room. There was no rhyme or reason for this particular room- he just seemed to begin in it.

The room was a little smaller than the other ones in the house. There was a rectangular table set in the middle, made of the finest wood. Five chairs circled the table, all distributed evenly. Levi traced a finger on the surface of the table, noting some dust had settled over the course of the night. The rest of the room lay bare, some boxes huddled away in the corner.

The only other striking aspect of the otherwise empty room was a grandfather clock. It stood proud against the wall, its furnished paint glinting in the light. Five chimes were bundled inside the mechanism, and the sound they made were beautiful. The clock sounded every hour, and, though, the chimes were harmonious to the ears, it left a sort of haunting presence. It somewhat displeased Levi, but he couldn't be bothered to shut it off. The clock had always been there, and he could not remember when he'd first acquired it.

The morning passed by rather uneventfully, Levi sweeping the whole house before settling down for a quick breakfast of toast and eggs. He got dressed shortly afterwards, in a crisp suit. He pulled his cravat tie close around his neck. His fellow teachers often made fun of him for wearing such stiff clothing, but it honestly did nothing but accentuate his good looks.

Glancing at his watch, he saw it was almost time to leave. Levi collected all his teaching supplies before locking up and heading over to his car.

His mansion loomed over him as he crossed the gardens. As he reached his car, he glanced back at his luxurious home. It was almost like a castle, very regal and gorgeously furnished. The gardens were well kept, and there was a small fountain located in the back. Lavish horse stables could also be found.

But, the words beautiful, extravagant, and grand never crossed his mind. All he could think was that the house was very much like him; cold, alone, and oh so very empty.

And he had no idea how to fix the emptiness.

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**Thanks for reading ㈴2 Hope you enjoyed! Leave any reviews and constructive criticism, if you have any! **


	2. 1: Warmth

**A/N: Here's the next part! And, oops, forgot to add this:**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Attack on Titan (which I don't) CERTAIN PEOPLE would be alive.**

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"Hey, shortie, crack a smile! Lighten up!"

This was how his days usually went. As soon as he stepped into the teacher's lounge, he was greeted by Hanji, his fellow professor, who assaulted him with far too much liveliness.

The tall brown-haired lady ruffled his neat hair, saying, "You've always got a scowl on your face. You'll scare your students."

"My students don't care, and I sure as hell don't," Levi answered back, pouring some freshly made coffee for homself. When he put the tip of the mug to his lips, he knew something was off. It wasn't too bitter, the way Hanji usually made it. No, this coffee was tolerable, something Levi could actually swallow down without having to gag a few times. It was warm and filled him with a sense of calm.

"Who made this, Hanji?" Levi asked, savoring the taste.

Hanji slipped on her lab coat before replying with, "The new teacher. Remember how that old guy... Weilman, right? Anyway, he had a big flip out. Ring a bell?"

Levi actually thought for a second, then decided his thoughts would be better elsewhere. "No. What about him?"

The hyper woman sighed dramatically as she slipped goggles over her eyes. "Levi, you gotta pay more attention. It won't _kill_ you."

"You'd be surprised."

"Okay, okay, whatever. Anyway, Weilman was a paranoid mess, I can't _believe _you never noticed him, and he went berserk on one student, who was it?, right, it was Eren."

Levi rolled his eyes. "That damn brat. So, this Weilman got fired? What department was he in?"

Hanji answered, "He was an English professor. Not a very good one. He always thought his students were plagiarizing, calling them '_goddamn monsters' _and things of that nature. A fine nut case, he was." She clapped her hands together, grinning, an evil glint in her eyes. "I would've loved to dissect him, to find out what exactly makes him tick-"

"Dissect yourself first. There's clearly something wrong with you," Levi said monotonously, setting down the mug, of which he'd drank the contents quite quickly. "So, is this new teacher any better? He must be. The coffee's good."

"First of all, he's a _she_," Hanji corrected her fellow professor. "Second, yes, she is very nice. Such a sweetheart. I'd also love to open her up! Do you think her heart, because you know, she's so nice and all, is bigger than others-"

"Get to your class," the short man started pushing Hanji out of the lounge. "I'm sure you have something to blow up today."

Hanji's eyes sparkled behind her goggles. "How did you know? My biology class has a lab scheduled for today, where we are going to-"

"Good-bye, Hanji." Levi cut her off mid-sentence, the door shutting soundly behind her. Even then, he could hear her rambling on about whatever he messed up mind had conjured up. He went over to the coffee machine, debating whether or not to pour another mug.

As he vacillated between having extreme coffee breath and just leaving, the door to the lounge opened. "Hanji, did you forgot your lighter or something?" Levi asked without turning around.

He did not hear Hanji's bold voice in reply. Instead, he recieved the sound of a person's sweet tone. Something inside him felt strange, like he'd heard the voice before.

"I'm sorry, I-I'm not-"

Levi finally turned around. A young woman of possibly early twenties stood before him. She was dressed in a white blouse and a flowing blue skirt which fell just below her knees. Her light orange hair was short, curling around the frame of her face. Her eyes, the same color as her hair, were smiling.

Best of all, Levi thought, she was a little shorter than him. He finally felt tall! More or less.

Levi didn't know what to say, other than inquiring her of her height.

The woman smiled nervously. "Sorry, I'm new here. This... this is the teacher's lounge, right?"

"One of many," Levi answered coolly.

She nodded. He couldn't help but notice how pretty her smile was. "This campus is big. I'm excited to work here!" She suddenly looked flustered. "Sorry, I can get excited easily... oh, you must think I'm rude. My name is Petra Ral. I'm the new English professor. It's nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand.

Levi went to go shake her hand, noticing every crease on her palm. He blinked, and he thought he saw scars, scars that he had too... then he blinked again, and they were gone. Was he going crazy?

"Is something wrong?" Petra asked concernedly, as Levi kept pointedly staring at her small hands.

Levi pulled his hand away, pulling at his cravat tie. "No, sorry. Good to meet you. My name is Levi."

The bright woman smiled again. "What do you teach here, Levi?"

"Health and Wellness," Levi replied solidly. "No one knows how to be clean anymore."

Petra laughed, a light tinkling. "Don't worry, I took a shower today. I'm clean." Levi could tell- he could smell the aroma of her shampoo. "Well, it's a good class to have. Oh, did you drink some coffee today?" she asked suddenly, peeking at the coffee machine behind him.

"Yes. You made it, right? It was good," Levi remarked. He felt a little strange as he said it. He hardly complimented anyone, but with Petra, the words just fell out so easily.

Her smile only grew larger. "Thank you! I used to be a waitress, so I have experience on what tastes best."

"Seems experience has served you well."

She titled her head, flushing. "Thanks! I do hope it wakes you up."

Levi did a double take. "What?"

Petra repeated, "Wake you up. Because it's coffee? And coffee is supposed to make people hyper?"

"Oh, sorry... I... Never mind." Levi felt, for once in his life, a little flustered. It was her. It was the voice in his dream. He was so sure...!

He was stopped in his thoughts by the sound of Petra getting a small purse hidden away in the corner of the room. "Well, I'm just here to get my belongings, then I'm off to teach. It was very nice to meet you, Levi!" She went over to shake his hand once more.

Then, she was gone. The door shut quietly, as if she hadn't been there in the first place.

As Levi stood in the now empty room, he could still feel the warmth of her hand lingering on his.


End file.
